Lamb, Child, Servant, Shepherd, Priest
- Jesus The gentle, spotless Lamb who lived a perfect life,
Whose road was long, whose time was short and ended with the knife,
Whose blood was poured upon the stony altar of our sin,
Whose life was cruelly ended so that our lives might begin. - Jesus the child, our comforter in all our jaded care,
Whose Godhead clothed in helplessness is more than we can bear,
Whose human weaknesses excite our sense of the divine,
Whose vulnerable sweetness helps the victim to resign. - Jesus the Servant, prince of peace, whose flesh was torn for strife,
Whose sinews snapped for all the times we fail to honour life,
Whose hands were pierced for all the service that we fail to do,
Whose head was crowned with thorns for every time we are untrue. - Jesus the shepherd of the sheep so apt to stray and scrape,
No gap too narrow to provoke foolish and doomed escape,
Who loves the weak more than the strong in body and in soul,
Who leads us equally to rest in His protecting fold. - Above all else, Jesus the Priest, whose sacrifice divine
Of his Own Self is offered in the transformed bread and wine,
Whose sacramental presence is the fountain-head of Grace
Which brings us closer daily to our final resting place.